Chains connecting to the New York Mercury Newspaper

Chapter 33, pg. 200

Analysis

In the book, Chains, the author, Laurie Halse Anderson used the New York Mercury as a primary source to use the quote, “Many of the inhabitants are come into town; and many others who were obliged to fly for their loyalty are coming in daily.” She used this quote to bring up that many of the people who were trying to be patriotic had to flee because those loyal to the king were coming to attack. One example of this is, “The army was gone and the city abandoned.” (pg 177) This example shows that the army had come and forced the inhabitants of the town to flee for fear of everything being stripped from them. Another example is, “The true invasion of New York started with the firing of a hundred ships’ cannons when we were at church Sunday morning.” This example shows that the cannons were fired to bring fear among the towns’ citizens and make patriots flee because the people loyal to Britain were ready for a fight. In this book, I believe that Laurie Halse Anderson chose this quote because it was a live historical report of what she is trying to interpret in this chapter of her book. The picture shows a fire that Britain used to intimidate Patriots and caused most them to run or be homeless. Britain's soldiers were very angry that someone would even dare to disobey the king and used every force necessary to scare them.